1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording medium attached to a portable terminal and using the portable terminal as a blood glucose monitoring apparatus and to a blood glucose monitoring system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a recording medium attached to a portable terminal that can be connected to a network and using the portable terminal as a blood glucose monitoring apparatus that can be connected to the network, and to a blood glucose monitoring system.
2. Description of the Background Art
Control of blood glucose level is a basic treatment of diabetes. For proper control of the blood glucose level, it is necessary to monitor variation in blood glucose level on a day-to-day basis to see if the level is well controlled.
Recently, apparatuses for Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose (SMBG) that enables monitoring of blood glucose level, which was possible only at a medical institution in the past, in a simple manner by the user become commercially available. Thus, it is possible to monitor the blood glucose level at home in a simple manner.
The apparatuses for self-monitoring of blood glucose can be roughly classified into ones that use electrode method in which taken blood is caused to react with a glucose oxidizing enzyme fixed on an electrode or a test paper, and a current resulting from the reaction is measured, and ones that use paper test in which the taken sample is put on a test paper, and the blood glucose level is measured from the degree of color change on the test paper.
Generally, most of the commercially available apparatuses for self-monitoring of blood glucose adopt the electrode method in view of measurement accuracy or the like.
Known apparatuses of self-monitoring of blood glucose using the electrode method include various types such as the type in which skin is punctuated by a puncturing device with a puncture needle, blood sample thus obtained is put on a test paper, and the test paper is mounted on a monitoring apparatus for monitoring, the type in which puncturing and monitoring functions are integrated, and the non-invasive type that utilizes gingival crevice fluid or near-infrared lay to eliminate the necessity of the puncture needle.
Further, among the commercially available apparatuses for self-monitoring of blood glucose using the electrode method, some have a data output function enabling output of the data of measurement, so that, when connected to a dedicated connecting apparatus, the measurement data can be transmitted, for example, to a personal computer, enabling data management by the personal computer.
The above described apparatuses for self-monitoring of blood glucose are, basically, used as stand alone apparatuses. A user of the apparatus for self-monitoring of blood glucose controls his/her blood glucose level and manages the tendency of the blood glucose level, by dietetic therapy or by determining dose of insulin, based on the measured value displayed at a display unit of the apparatus for self-monitoring of blood glucose.
It is possible, however, that a patient of diabetes needs immediate consultation with a physician dependent on the result of measured blood glucose level, and further, there may be an emergency case that because of the abnormality in blood glucose level, physical condition of a patient so deteriorates that the patient cannot by himself/herself visit a hospital nearby, after he/she has measured the blood glucose level by the above described apparatus for self-monitoring of blood glucose.
In such a case, it is impossible to ask for immediate diagnosis by a physician, for example, when the user uses the apparatus for self-monitoring of blood glucose of the above described type. Even when the apparatus for self-monitoring of blood glucose that can be connective to a personal computer described above, a dedicated connector apparatus is necessary for connecting the self-monitoring apparatus with the personal computer. Therefore, it is impossible to cope with the above described urgent situation when the user is away from home.
The apparatuses for self-monitoring of blood glucose described above all require a display device for displaying measured values and a power supply battery for driving internal devices. Therefore, there is a problem that the apparatuses are large.